


Warrior Princess

by silamai



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silamai/pseuds/silamai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quest to become the strongest monk of them all can not go without a few bumps along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warrior Princess

**Author's Note:**

> So this is basically a sort of travel log of random things that happen to a Pandaren monk in a post-cataclysmic world, hence why the story is presented out of order. I do kind of twist canon by putting the Pandaren migration to the Horde and Alliance a little before Deathwing's defeat but bear with me.
> 
> No pun intended.

**Day 12**

The door slammed behind her as Thiya entered the small home on the outskirts of Orgrimmar.  Thiya dropped her basket of food down on the table, pulling out breads and cheeses.  Her command of the orcish language was improving, but left much to be desired when applied to her daily life.  Each day left her frustrated at herself and her shortcomings.

The home was sparsely decorated with few possessions that she had taken with her from the Wandering Isle.  A Pandaren crest hung over the door, and a scroll detailing her family tree hung on the wall.  On the bottom, several characters had been blotted out with ink.  The focal point of the small space was a stove in the middle, where several items were currently cooking simultaneously, managed by a haggard Pandaren woman with a wooden spoon in one paw and a baby in the other.  In the next room two cots lay parallel to each other, a long dresser containing everyone's clothes in a separate drawer packed into the corner next to a crib.

"Welcome home," she said softly, eying Thiya as she stacked the food in the pantry.   She set the spoon over a boiling pot and hefted her baby in both arms.  Her thick glasses were fogged up from the steam pouring from the rice.  "It's been a very long day.   Have a seat; I'll have supper ready soon."

"Thank you, Mei," Thiya said, slipping into a chair and cradling her head in her paws.   Mei, Thiya's older cousin, slipped into the bedroom, putting her small child into bed, before she entered the pantry.  She appeared once more with a crusty loaf of bread, which she set down on the table and began to cut.

"How goes your training, young pandowan?" she asked, her eyes taking note of Thiya's dirty leathers.

"I am not a pandowan anymore," Thiya replied in a huffy sigh.  "Master Shang Xi imparted all of his wisdom to me before he moved on.  I am a fully-fledged Huojin now."

The half-truth slipped through easily.  She had completed her training, yes, but Shang Xi had harsh words for her before they made their way to the Wood of Staves.  Her mind transported her back to those final days, where Shen-zin Su was spiralling out of control, where she made contact with the rest of Azeroth, and where she decided to take hold of her own life by the throat.

She blinked the memories away before they could consume her, her paws tightening into fists in the process.

Mei returned to the stove, stirring rice together with some vegetables.  "I've been offered a job at Magar's," she said conversationally.  "They're very interested in Pandaren patterns.  There will be a few of us there working the looms."  Her spoon slowed as she added, "Perhaps you should look into it?"

Thiya avoided her gaze.  Money was tight, not just for them, but for many of the Pandaren who had moved on from the Wandering Isle.  Their numbers were not large, but finding a place to fit in Orgrimmar was a challenge.  There was always work to be done, whether it was repairs to the city, the forging of weaponry and armour, or the collection of supplies, but whether or not it was steady work was a consistent problem.

"I've made a decision during training today," Thiya admitted.  "It should solve both of our troubles."

"Oh?"

Mei took note of her companion's fingers drumming against the table, as well as the conflict written on her face.  She smiled and removed the pots from the flames of the stove, mixing different ingredients together.

"Tell me about it after we've eaten."

 

**Day 0**

In the end there really was no choice to make.

Shen-zin Su was recovering from the wounds inflicted by Ji Firepaw's plans.  The grand turtle was now diverting its course away from certain disaster—the Maelstrom, the strange races called it.  She did not understand them at the time; only the mages did, as they tried to translate through arcane means.  Emissaries from both armies, Horde and Alliance, spoke their pieces about the Cataclysm, and how it nearly tore the whole world apart.

Thiya was amazed.  She had never heard anything like it, not here.  It explained everything that had been occurring for the last few months, but to actually know the cause, and for that cause to be so great...

Something began to stir within her, a thirst for the outside world.  It was not the first time she had thought of leaving the Isle, but for an opportunity such as this to present itself?  It must have been a gift from the ancestors.  And the idea that her training would finally pay off; even in the face of the adversity she encountered training under the instructors.

Thiya would finally be able to prove to herself that everything the instructors said about her was wrong.

Thiya would finally be able to prove herself the strongest monk of them all.

When the outsiders were making their departure, Thiya was surprised to find that she wasn't the only Pandaren with similar ambitions.  Many balloons were being boarded, each bound for the faction capitals.  She watched as those joining the Alliance filed ahead of her, entire families looking for something new to add to their lives.  Everyone knew that there was no turning back; once the island steered back on course—whatever Shen-zin Su decided that course was—it was possible that many of these Pandaren would never know what would happen to the family and friends that were staying behind on the ancient turtle.

Familiar faces boarded the balloon.  One in particular stood out amongst the rest.  For a moment Thiya doubted her eyes.  _Surely not._   She pushed through the crowd to the front, watching as a fat panda stepped off the platform into the balloon's basket.  The ropes were cast off, and the sandbags were removed. The balloon began to rise.  The panda turned around, and he waved back at all those who remained.  Everyone shouted back at the balloon: goodbyes, well-wishes, words of advice, and other things.  As the panda smiled and shouted back his eyes locked with hers.  He froze, and in that moment Thiya felt a great rage boiling up inside of her.

 

**Day 12**

"I intend to leave Orgrimmar and fight on the Horde's front lines," Thiya said to Mei, now that dinner had finished and they had cleaned up.  "When we arrived the Warchief said that eventually the call to arms would come for all of us.  I shall not wait for it to come at the most inopportune moment.  Instead I shall go to it."

Mei, halfway through a mug of ale, set it down on the table with some force.  "Thiya!  You must be joking!  We've only just arrived on Durotar.  We've barely begun to make our place in the Horde, and already you're willing to lay down your life for them?"

"Why not, Mei?  What good will come of sitting here, jobless and restless?"  Thiya cracked her knuckles.  "Already I feel my abilities fading away, even despite my training under Firepaw.  I must become stronger—no, the strongest."

"This again?"  Mei shook her head and removed her glasses, setting them down next to her mug.  "You know as well as I do that strength is but one characteristic of a monk's training.  It is not all breaking through stone with your bare fists."

"My education was completed back on the Isle.  All that is left is to replace the theory with experienced practice."

"Are you sure you can do this?"

That stopped Thiya cold.  She glared at Mei, who remained impassive on the other side of the table.  "What do you mean by that?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"I mean exactly what I said," Mei replied.  "This isn't the Wandering Isle.  These are not sparring matches.  The Horde and the Alliance are fighting a race war.  If you go out there, you will not be able to dust yourself off when you are thrown to the ground by your opponent.  These races fight to the death.

"What's more, now our people are fighting their war as well.  Are you willing to go up against them?  Are you willing to take the lives of your friends?"

"When they joined the Alliance..."  Thiya remembered the words that Hellscream used as he made a proclamation to the Pandaren from Grommash Hold.  _The minute they put on that Alliance tabard, they died._   "They made their choice.  I made mine.  We must all accept the consequences of that.  We cannot change what we have all become."

"'What we have become'?  Is that all you can say about it?  You were not born yesterday!  You know that fighting is not all there is to this world.  It is not the only way to peace."

"The Horde and the Alliance have gone too far to settle their dispute peacefully from what I understand.  Fighting it out is their only choice."

"Then you should not have a part in it.  This is not our battle."

"We all came here to take part in the war and turn the tide in the Horde's favour!"

"I've made no such choice."

"If you did not come here to fight, then why did you leave the isle?" Thiya said, her voice rising in volume.

Mei's lips were set in a firm line.  Thiya covered her mouth, realising what she had said in her moment of anger.  "I am sorry," she whispered, "I was too bold."

"I left because I had to escape the past," Mei said.  There was no need for explanation; Thiya and many others knew the story already.  A year ago Mei's husband had been fishing and fell off the side of the Wandering Isle in a freak accident.  The body was never recovered from the ocean.  Mei was devastated.  They had been so close, and their child had just been born.  She disappeared into her home for weeks, ignoring any kind of attempt at communication.  A few weeks later she emerged to the joy of many of her friends and relatives, but it was all too clear that she had changed for the worse.  The joyful gleam of her eyes was consumed by grief and horror.  She didn't recover.

I could not bear to look at that sea any longer, knowing that it took the most important part of my life away from me," Mei said, her eyes looking into the bedroom at a painted portrait that she kept next to her bedroll of her and a rotund panda in ceremonial garb.  "Even being this close to the harbour...it brings back so many memories."

Thiya reached out across the table and rested her paw on Mei's.  "I'm sorry.  I've hurt you."

"I miss him so much," Mei said, her voice cracking.  Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Watching this woman—once so proud and so noble and so, so _alive_ —collapsing under the weight of her own sorrow was disheartening...and frightening.  Thiya could hardly admit it to herself, but Mei's despair was so profound that sometimes Thiya thought that she too would be trapped within it.  Thiya had felt grief several times in her life, but each time was more short-lived than the last.  To drown in that which was out of her control seemed pointless, and Mei's situation, while tragic, had nothing to do with her.

Thiya took her paw back and stood up.  "Things will be better," she assured.  "The Horde will pay well for my service.  I'll send money regularly."

Mei caught her wrist as she passed, halting her course to the bedroom.  Her expression was grim.  "Why do you insist on doing this?" she asked.  "We are cousins, and you're only family that came with me to Orgrimmar.  What would happen if I were to lose you too?"

"Remember Master Shang Xi," Thiya replied.  "Remember the Wood of Staves.  Death comes to us all.  It is something that we must accept."

"Promise me," Mei said.  Her grip tightened on Thiya's wrist.  "Promise me that your time will come far, far away from now.  If you mean to go to war I cannot stop you.  But you must promise me that you will not die."

Thiya nodded.  "I promise."

She expected this to be the end of it.  However, Mei refused to let go.  She stared into Thiya's eyes, considering, before finally asking her question.

"What will you do if you come to face Thiyo in combat?"


End file.
